Blind Date Awkwardness

On Friday night I had a blind date. One of my good friends here in the city met this guy out at a bar and found out that he lived down the street from me. She gave him my number and he ended up calling me a few days ago.

I met Stock Exchange Boy at a bar close to the South Street Seaport called Nelson Blue (http://www.nelsonblue.com/). This is a really cute New Zealand bar that has a familiar local crowd and great food. Stock Exchange Boy was really nice and funny. I met him and his friends after they had been celebrating another friend's promotion. Their boss was there with them and the entire group seemed to be having a lot of fun and they were all joking around with me.

The confusion started when the girl behind the bar would not take my drink order. It became obvious that she was avoiding our side of the bar. I was beginning to think that it was because I had joined the mix until she said to Stock Exchange Boy "Your friend left me an awful tip!" He was confused at this comment until he asked his boss what kind of tip he left. The boss, obviously surprised that the bartender had called him out, started making excuses about how his burger wasn't cooked right. The guys continued to question him and things quickly became more uncomfortable, especially for me. My phone rang, thankfully saved by the bell, I took the call outside.

I was contemplating leaving the bar at that moment but decided to go back inside to finish my drink. When I got back into the bar Stock Exchange Boy and all of his friends were handing the grinning waitress a $20 bill each. She had obviously made out on that deal in the end but I eventually found out that their boss had only left $93 on an $89 bill.

How rude of a boss is that! Thankfully the boss has some good workers that aren't cheap asses. I can only speculate that this is a part of the reason that our country is in the situation it is. The boss keeps all of his money for himself while he makes his workers do everything for him, at their expense and at the expense of other parties (the girl that is on the blind date and has to suffer by being uncomfortable and biting her tongue).